Nemrut is not the famous Nemrut with stone heads, which is located in the south of Turkey. We are talking about the Nemrut Dağı volcano in Bitlis province. It is one of the largest volcanoes in Turkey, and its caldera is considered one of the largest in the world. The last major eruption occurred relatively recently by geological standards — around the 15th century. It was thanks to this volcano that Lake Van was formed millions of years ago: lava flows blocked the natural flow of water.It is about 15 kilometers from Tatvan to the entrance to the national park, and about 140 kilometers from Van Airport. The journey takes about two and a half hours, including stops.
I arrived here at about 4 p.m. At first, I thought that the territory could be closed for the night or have some kind of operating mode, but it turned out that there were no restrictions. You can arrive at almost any time of the day.
A mountain road leads up from Tatvan to the caldera. First, there is good asphalt, then sections of paving stones begin, bumps and pits appear in places, after which a normal surface appears again. Overall, the road turned out to be much better than I expected. For some reason, it seemed to me that I would have to drive the last kilometers on gravel, but in practice everything turned out to be quite comfortable.
You can get up here in an ordinary passenger car without any problems. I had a regular rental car with road tires, and there were no difficulties.
The higher I climbed, the more snow there was. Huge snow walls appeared on both sides of the road, through which a narrow lane was literally cut. It looked very unusual, especially considering that it was already the beginning of June on the calendar.
However, I never got to the end point of the route. About two kilometers before it, the road was completely blocked by a large snow patch that had not yet had time to melt. The equipment also apparently failed to clear it.
I had to leave the car, get trekking poles and continue on foot.
For a while I was accompanied by two Turks. Together we walked about a kilometer until we saw the warning signs about bears. After that, my random companions decided not to take any chances, turned around and walked back to the car.
I decided to walk a little further alone.
To be honest, at some point it didn’t feel quite comfortable. There were practically no people because of the closed road. Many tourists came, saw the snowfall, turned around and left back. As a result, I found myself practically alone in the middle of a huge volcanic caldera.
The thought of bears kept running through my head. I only had trekking poles in case I encountered a wild animal, so I didn’t go too far anyway.
Despite this, I really liked the place.
The most interesting feeling is that being inside a caldera, it takes a long time to realize that you are inside a huge volcano. The space is so large that it is perceived rather as a separate mountain world with its lakes, valleys and endless slopes.
The scenery here is completely different from the usual Turkey. There are almost no trees, open spaces, volcanic slopes, snowfields and mountain lakes all around. Only in places there are small patches of forest.
I remember the weather separately. Despite the beginning of June, it was very cold upstairs. There was a strong wind, and I was sincerely glad that I had brought not only a sweatshirt, but also a light down jacket. Without warm clothes, the walk would not have been the most comfortable.
After walking, I returned to the car. On the way, I met Swiss pensioners traveling on a motorhome. We talked for about fifteen minutes about Turkey, travel, and the weather in the mountains, after which everyone continued on their way.
And I went back to Tatvan, where I was going to spend the night before the next day of traveling around Lake Van.
